July means Eisner month! This year, ComicCon@Home happened mostly on YouTube, so you can watch the entire awards ceremony if you're into that sort of thing. The awards were held on July 23rd, 2021.

Titles are nominated by a panel of folks in the comics industry, a librarian, and an academic researcher. Then, comics industry folks, librarians, and comic academics can vote for the winners. While the panel of folks have read all of these titles (and many more!), those voting for winners definitely do not need to have read everything to vote. The entire list of winners AND nominees is full of some amazing titles because they were the BEST of what the small committee read this year. I suggest checking out the full list of winners and nominees posted here by the Comics Beat. Since this website is School Library related, I'll be posting the winners and nominees for categories that will help school librarians with their purchasing decisions.

I definitely haven't read all of these amazing titles (yet!), but where I can, I have linked my review of the titles I have finished. As always, this list means I have even more titles to add to my towering TBR pile!

Not sure where to start with buying manga for your library? Don't worry, you're not alone.  This is probably the #1 question I get from school librarians.  So, to help you and many others out, here is a list of recommendations to start.

I’ve separated the list into three groups. Start with Group One, and if you have money left over, head on to Group Two and even Three!

So that multiple volumes don't clog up this list, I have included all volumes of a series as one item.  To be fair to all series involved, I haven't included my favorites that were re-released this year, which include Fullmetal Alchemist, Sailor Moon, and Magic Knight Rayearth.

Check out an article I wrote on the importance of including LGBTQ+ graphic novels in our library collections.  It was published in Issue 32 of Diamond Bookshelf, a publication by Diamond Distributing.  

LGBTQ+ Comics: Why we can no longer afford to be scared. 

Do you have a friend or family member who avidly reads graphic novels, and you're not sure what to buy them for the holidays? Check out this buying guide of top books from 2020 that would be perfect as gifts.

In the titles of each, I have indicated whether these would be good purchases by audience level:

Elementary (Grades 3-5) = EL
Middle School (Grades 6-8) = MS
High School (Grades 9-12) = HS
Adult = AD

These age ranges are suggestions - there's nothing that says a high schooler or an adult wouldn't love a book I've tagged as elementary, but often the higher age ratings means there's something mature or inappropriate for younger audiences.

I have also included my genre tags and noted read-alikes in the hopes that this helps you find the perfect books for your friends and family.

I'm back at it again with another presentation and list of titles to recommend for purchase.  This presentation was delivered to attendees of the California School Library Association's Workshop put on by the Souther Region Executive Board.

I wrote another article, this time for Booklist. In July, they have a spotlight on graphic novels for their regular magazine, and they also have been publishing a supplement for libraries.  Click here to read the full supplement!
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Every year, there are several awards presented throughout the country, mostly at notable comic conventions.  Here is a list of these award-winning titles that may not appear as an award winner on purchasing services.  You may see duplicate titles, as I am not going to omit a title if it wins two or more different awards.  In some cases, I have included the nominees when available.  Even being nominated for these prestigious awards is an honor, so all of these books on the nominees list are quality titles that you can consider purchasing for your collection.

Graphic novels are such a hot thing now that big time publishers are starting to have their own imprints just for the graphic medium.  Some of them are specific to age suitability, but others are not. Here are a couple of the most popular ones.

I once again presented at the State Library conference, and shared lists of recommended titles for purchase and collection development.  You can access the links below, and check out my presentation.

Middle School recommended list 2020
​High School recommended list 2020